Game On

Game Set

Prologue:

Ellie... Nine years old

"Come on Ellie," my mother calls.

"It's time to come have dinner!" My second oldest brother Zack calls a moment later.

"I'm coming!" I shout back angrily.

It's not fair. I have five brothers and not only am I the youngest but I'm the only girl. This means my brothers always make sure I miss out on a lot of fun things, because there too 'dangerous'.

'You can't come play soccer with us Ellie it's too rough, you'll get hurt'

'You can't come to the dam to swim with us, you'll get hurt'

'You can't come skateboarding with us, you'll get hurt'

I love my older brothers, especially when they stop the boys in my year from bullying me. But they always say I can't do any of the fun games with them because they always say I'll get hurt. Only I know I won't.

This is why when Mum and Dad said I could do gymnastics and I asked if I could keep it a secret from my brothers, they said it was okay. I loved gymnastics and there was no way my brothers would let me do it if they found out, so as much as I wanted to tell them , to prove I was strong, I couldn't.

I felt a little bad at first, but then I remembered the time when I did a flip on the trampoline with my brothers, and they refused to let me on it again after that until I promised I would never do it again. Which I thought was silly now since I do a lot more harder and dangerous tricks in gymnastics now that I've been doing it for a long time. My teacher says I have a natural talent.

"Ellie!" My oldest brother Kyle yells.

"Okay, I'm coming!" I shout back before quickly hopping off the swing I was sitting on, and hurrying off inside.

Today my youngest brother Caleb was coming home with the new kid that just moved in next door to us. We haven't met the family yet, so Mum organized a dinner for us all to meet and get to know everyone.

This meant I wasn't allowed to play outside in the sand until they left, another thing which wasn't fair. I mean it wasn't my fault that sand always seemed to find its way onto my silly frilly dressed, it's not like I did it on purpose.

"Is there anything I can do Mum?" I ask as she walks around the kitchen.

"It would be a great help if you could set the table Elizabeth." Mum said with a hurried look at the clock. I nodded and quickly start getting the plates and forks out.

"Where here!" Caleb announces just as I finish setting the table and Mum finishes dinner.

"About time, I'm hungry." My second youngest brother Ryan says with a loud sigh.

"You're hungry, what about me?" Ian my third oldest brother complains. Ian also happened to be Ryan's twin, which meant they were almost always up to no good when they were together.

"Boys go get your father." Mum said as she patted her hair down, before heading off to greet our new neighbors. I was making sure I hadn't forgotten anyone at the table while everyone came to the living room to greet each other, Mum calling me over as they did.

"I'd like to introduce my sons and daughter. This is Elizabeth, the youngest at nine. Caleb, who you know is ten. Ian and Lucas who are both eleven. Zack who's thirteen, and Kyle who's the oldest and is fifteen." Mum said with a bright smile.

"Wow, their all so close together." Our new neighbor Mrs Jinks says with a kind smile.

"Guess we just couldn't stop after the first, and I always heard it was better to have closer ages, they may fight now but they'll be as close as anything when their older." Dad tells them with a proud smile, while taking Mums hand and giving it a small kiss.

"That is true." Mr Jinks agrees with a nod before clearing his throat.

"This is our son Hunter, who's also ten." Mr Jinks says, nudging him forward.

I turn to look at him and was shocked when he stepped froward to greet us.

'He looks just like a prince'. I think in my head.

He was handsome with light blue eyes the same color as the sky, and dark brown hair with a few light strands, that made his eyes stand out even more. He was also slightly tanned like my brothers, with smooth skin.

"Nice to meet ya Hunter." Ian greeted, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"You too." Hunter said with a smile, one that made me want to smile too.

"Well Hunter why don't you go and play with and Mr and Mrs Bryn kids for a few minutes while we talk, before we have dinner." Mrs Jinks suggests. Hunter gives her a small nod, before he and my brother walk off to go play outside.

"Wait for me." I call running after them once we're outside.

"No, we're going to the lake and it's too dangerous for you." Lucas says without turning around. I ignore what he says though and quietly follow them, trying to be sneaky so they won't know.

They only a few moments later, spending a few moments trying to catch some frogs, before deciding it's to hard and leaving to get their nets.

I make sure their gone before walking up to the lake and looking into the water. I see the frogs swimming around, occasionally jumping out. I wait a few moments, trying to find the best moment to catch one. When one jumps out right in front of me, I quickly reach out and snatch it. It nearly gets away though with its skin so slimy and all the wriggling it's doing.

"Elizabeth!" I hear Zack yell from behind, making me jump and almost drop the frog.

"What are you doing, we told you to go back." Ian says as my brothers and Hunter walk over to me, caring a few nets.

"I'm not a little girl, I can look after my self and go for walks if I want to." I say in a stubborn tone.

"Sure you can, now go home." Lucas says with a while trying to hold back his laughter, making it obvious that he doesn't believe me.

"Your brothers are right, little girls should be out here by themselves." Hunter says with a smirk, looking like a prince a lot less now.

"I'm not little." I say, gritting my teeth.

"Sure your not." Hunter says with a laugh.

I don't even hesitate when I throw the frog at him, hitting him right in the face and making him fall over. Laughing now I don't even notice him picking up a handful of mud until it hits my bright yellow dress with a loud slat.

I hear my brothers laugh loudly at the scene, before stopping when I throw mud right at them. It doesn't take long before it becomes one big mud war.

After we're all finished we head back to the house, and receive a large scolding from our parents.

"Hunter started it." I say glaring at him. He glares back, while giving me an annoying smirk.

"Just get cleaned up and come down for dinner." Mum says with a sigh before walking back to the kitchen to serve dinner.

I do as I'm told and walk to the bathroom. As I pass Hunter though he leans in to say something.

"This isn't over." He says with his still annoying smirk.

"Game on." I say back, before walking off.